The Walking School Bus: Critical Community-Engaged Learning in Action?

Abstract

The U.S. K–12 public education system is fundamentally unequal. What efforts can facilitate students to become deeply immersed in the realities of the system and to embody the need for social change? This article investigates scaffolded, semester-long writing assignments to demonstrate patterns in the three tenets of critical community-engaged learning (authentic relationship development, reducing power differentials, social change orientation). The assignments come from three cohorts of a Sociology of Education course in which undergraduates spent early mornings walking with elementary school children. As efforts were made to deepen the community-engaged partnership, there is corresponding evidence in (1) the ways students humanized social problems through authentic relationship development, (2) the ways they detailed moments of youth-led activities in which power differentials were diminished, and (3) how students’ reflective thoughts more frequently focused upon social change.

Community Campus as Threshold: A Space of Dialogue for Academia and the Community

“…rough civic learning students are prompted to re-examine their existing beliefs, knowledge, and thinking (Nicol 1997;Rowe 1996). It has also been found to build students' selfesteem and self-con dence (Eppler 2011;Muhlestein and Mccann 2019;Johnston 2020). Moving beyond more personal orientation, fostered is a greater sense of multi-cultural awareness (Toncar 2006), and concurrently a heightened capacity to understand other individuals' perspectives ( Jickling 2003;Barth 2007).…”

“…Moving beyond more personal orientation, fostered is a greater sense of multi-cultural awareness (Toncar 2006), and concurrently a heightened capacity to understand other individuals' perspectives ( Jickling 2003;Barth 2007). is is further evidenced in a boosting of students' feelings of social connectedness (Eppler 2011;Muhlestein and Mccann 2019;Johnston 2020), notably with the wider community (Gullion and Ellis 2014;Graizbord 2019;Siza 2019).…”

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“…Through civic learning students are prompted to re-examine their existing beliefs, knowledge, and thinking (Nicol 1997;Rowe 1996). It has also been found to build students' selfesteem and self-confidence (Eppler 2011;Muhlestein and Mccann 2019;Johnston 2020). Moving beyond more personal orientation, fostered is a greater sense of multi-cultural awareness (Toncar 2006), and concurrently a heightened capacity to understand other individuals' perspectives ( Jickling 2003;Barth 2007).…”

In Their Words: What Undergraduate Sociology Students Say about Community-Engaged Learning

“…In a study on medical students participating in community service with underprivileged communities, students developed higher empathy levels, improved communication, and better decision-making skills (Loh et al 2016). Active engagement with learning may also boost students' levels of confidence and self-esteem (Eppler et al 2011;Johnston 2020).…”

“…The research on CEL in sociology is limited but revealing. In a study on sociology of education students working with youth in the community, Johnston (2020) found that students developed deep and authentic relationships with the youth, and these connections increased students' commitment to social change. Research has also suggested that students' positionality, such as lower socioeconomic status, may offer unique insights into their learning experiences and their community partners (Clever and Miller 2019).…”